NaimExplain

Would you ever confess to a crime you did not commit? Defend your answer using evidence from empirical research. I would like to believe I would never confess to a crime I didn't commit but as this course has taught me, easily over 50% of people could be made to falsely confess to a crime they didn't commit. It has been shown that innocent people are more likely to waive their right to an attorney than guilty people. People believe that their own innocence will protect them. Research by Kassin has shown that it does not. The Innocent Project has cited approximately 25% of their cases have involved false confessions given by a suspect that were legally obtained meaning they weren't threaten or beaten out of them. Police use something called the Reid technique which consists of 9 steps designed to extract a confession from an unwilling suspect. This method includes interrupting any effort to deny the claims, the interviewer showing sympathy and offering alternative v

Discuss three factors that influence court decisions. 1) attractiveness, 2) similarity of a defendant to a juror, 3) athlete

What is a simultaneous lineup? Sequential? Show-up? Which is best? Why? Simultaneous lineup: A lineup type that presents photos together in one array Sequential lineup: A lineup type where photos are presented individually and witness must make a yes or no before moving on. This is the best method as it significantly reduces error rates compared to other line up types Show-up: The live presentation of a criminal suspect to a victim or witness of a crime.

What is the cognitive interview and how can it be used by police? Cognitive Interviews is an interview technique based in cognitive psychology, focusing on context reinstatement to enhance recall of events Police use CI to recall witness memory. They create a rapport with the person and then ask them to "go back" to the event and having them visualize. They use open ended question and encourage witnesses to use complete answers.

What are some influences on memory? - Are influenced by our beliefs and expectations - Are influenced by police expectations - Are influenced by leading questions - Can be created through hypnosis

Discuss Memories are like impressions on wax tablets. Errors can creep in to witness memory from the moment after the crime occurs. Witnesses talk to each other, and that talking does affect memory for the event. We have to remember that memory is not a wax tablet, as Socrates argued. Memory is malleable, and changes over time, particularly when we learn new information about an event in our past. We have to remember that memories not only change, but: - Are influenced by our beliefs and expectations - Are influenced by police expectations - Are influenced by leading questions - Can be created through hypnosis Robert Baltovich learned that all too well when he was convicted based on the "hypnotically enhanced" testimony of a witness. Definition: Cognitive interview: An interview technique based in cognitive psychology, focusing on context reinstatement to enhance recall of events Simultaneous lineup: A lineup type that presents photos together in one arra

How many eyewitnesses make mistakes from real-world police lineups? In lab-based research? Why did it take so long for this to happen? It took the right person to be falsely convicted before people started paying attention. Tom Sophonow was not the first man to be falsely convicted in the Canadian legal system. In fact, his conviction was probably not the most spectacular false conviction in Canadian history either. However, his conviction led to a judicial inquiry that changed how police do their investigation, and what kind of evidence they can use. The following video is Dr. Elizabeth Loftus talking about her research on errors in memory in legal contexts. We will delve more into this throughout this module, but please watch it now for an overview: As you should have taken from the video you just watched, eyewitness testimony is very compelling. Eyewitnesses are believed even when their evidence is discredited. People are not good at distinguishing between a correct and inc

How does playing video games affect behaviour? Use a picture to make your argument. Do video games function the same as watching violent social models? According to Craig Anderson and his colleagues, playing aggressive videogames leads to: Increased arousal Increased aggressive thinking Increased aggressive feelings Increased aggressive behaviours Decreased prosocial behaviours Increased physical injury Indeed, there are some reasons to believe that playing violent video games might be more harmful than watching television. Specifically, players: identify with, and play the role of, a violent character. actively rehearse violence, not just passively watch it. engage in the whole sequence of enacting violence—selecting victims, acquiring weapons and ammunition, stalking the victim, aiming the weapon, pulling the trigger. are engaged with continual violence and threats of attack. repeat violent behaviours over and over. are rewarded for effective aggression.

How does television impact on violent and aggressive behaviour? There is a lot of mindless action in TV, movies, and video games. Most of this is harmless fun. But increasingly over the last couple of decades there has been discussion about the role of media in aggression. Think of some commercials you've seen: some are very aggressive. Indeed, personally I really hate it when they show "scary" commercials during funny shows. If I am trying to relax and calm down, seeing violence doesn't help my cause. Movies like The Fast and Furious and its sequels make street racing seem like something really cool to do. But the image above, and real life, shows us that dangerous driving can kill people. Can we say that watching movies like The Fast and the Furious makes people want to race? The answer is not simple -- as usual in social psychology the answer is: it depends. Based on work by Albert Bandura, we know that seeing someone act violently can lead to the watcher

What is the impact of pornography and/or sexual violence on behaviour and attitudes? The advent of the Internet has certainly increased the availability of pornography to youth. There are some scary statistics about this, especially if you have children. Children as young as eight years old are going on the Internet to view pornography. Pornography websites represent more than 10% of all the websites on the Internet. 90% of 8 to 16 year-olds have viewed online pornography. But watching pornography isn't the only problem: there is increased risk for children and teens using the Internet of being victimized by sex criminals. Have you ever been approached in a sexual way by someone on the Internet? Lots of people have. What do we know about the effects of pornography on people who are exposed to it? Repeated exposure to fictional eroticism has several effects: Decreased attraction to one's real-life partner Increased acceptance of extramarital sex Increased acceptance of

Will your marriage last? Use empirical evidence to defend your response. Why relationships end: Why is the overall divorce rate so high? And why does it vary across the provinces? What we know, is that people tend to stay married if: Were married after age 20 Both grew up in stable, two-parent homes Date a long while before marriage Are well and similarly educated Have a stable income from a good job Live in a small town or on a farm Did not cohabitate or become pregnant before marriage Are religiously committed Are of similar age, faith, and education But let's say that a relationship is failing. Caryl Rusbalt has argued that three common ways of coping with a failing relationship are with the following responses (in addition to the 4th option of exiting the relationship): Some people exhibit loyalty: they stay with the partner and hope things will get better Others (especially men) exhibit neglect: they ignore the other person and hope it will go away O

What are three keys to maintaining close relationships? What is it that makes a relationship last? Like many things, when humans are involved it is complicated. We do have some good insights, though. 1. Attachment: Work with children has shown that having a secure attachment with a caregiver leads to positive outcomes. Your book explains attachment, and this video provides insight into the basics of the research supporting this model: 2. Equity: Both partners need to perceive the relationship as equitable in order to achieve relationship satisfaction. In other words, you have to perceive that you are getting out of the relationship what you put in. If one partner feels they are doing all of the hard work, dissatisfaction is likely. 3. Self-Disclosure: Another important element for relationship satisfaction is self-disclosure and disclosure reciprocity: we expect that if we tell someone intimate details about ourselves that they will reciprocate. This happens gradually

What is the two-factor theory of emotion? Give an example. The two-factor theory of emotion, states that emotion is based on two factors: physiological arousal and cognitive label. EXAMPLE: Think about a time when you felt scared. Maybe you were walking down a dark street and heard someone coming up behind you. Maybe you were in a quiet place and heard a loud bang. Imagine what your body felt like at that moment: your heart probably sped up, your hands got sweaty, your breath got shallower. These are all signs that you are scared. What causes emotions? Why do you sometimes feel happy and sometimes feel angry? What causes fear? There are really two things going on with emotions: your body's response to the situation (like when your heart started racing in the dark street) and your cognitive assessment of your emotion, or the thoughts that tell you what emotion you are experiencing.

Who cares more about looks - men or women? Why? "On the whole women tend to love men for their character while men tend to love women for their appearance,"

How do perceptions of love vary across time, culture and gender? Time and Culture: People in Western cultures assume for example that love is a precondition for marriage. People's ideas about love seem to be fairly consistent across cultures, Most cultures (89%) do have a concept of romantic love. However in some cultures, notably those practising arranged marriages, love tends to follow rather than precede marriage. Gender: Although most people would assume it is women who fall in love more easily, studies have shown that it's actually men who tend to fall more readily in love. Men also seem to fall out of love more slowly and are less likely than women to break up a premarital romance. However women who are in love are more typically emotionally involved as their partners, or more so.

Draw and explain Sternberg's triangular theory of love. For each of the types of love possible, give an example. Top: Intimacy (Liking) Bottom Left: Passion (One night stand) Bottom Right: Commitment (Empty Love) Look at the figure above. Robert Sternberg has created this tripartite theory of love. It is based on the presence or absence of intimacy, commitment, and passion. If we have intimacy but no passion or commitment (see the top of the pyramid) we have liking. If we have commitment but no intimacy or passion we have what Sternberg calls empty love. If you have passion but no commitment or intimacy, you have a one night stand. Presumably, what we all seek is consummate love, depicted here in the center of our pyramid, where we have high intimacy, high passion and high commitment.

Can we measure love? What are the problems with trying to? Sternberg's triangular theory of love is an attempt to measure love. Top: Intimacy (Liking) Bottom Left: Passion (One night stand) Bottom Right: Commitment (Empty Love) Look at the figure above. Robert Sternberg has created this tripartite theory of love. It is based on the presence or absence of intimacy, commitment, and passion. If we have intimacy but no passion or commitment (see the top of the pyramid) we have liking. If we have commitment but no intimacy or passion we have what Sternberg calls empty love. If you have passion but no commitment or intimacy, you have a one night stand. Presumably, what we all seek is consummate love, depicted here in the center of our pyramid, where we have high intimacy, high passion and high commitment.

Do we need to belong? Does being ostracized have an impact on people. Need to belong: A motivation to bong with others in relationships shops that provide ongoing, positive interactions. We are attracted to other people. People are social animals. What happens if other people are not attracted to us? Does it hurt when people don't like us? Absolutely. This is called ostracism. You may have experienced at some point in your life being socially ostracized by some group (think back to junior high). The ostracism can include: Acts of excluding or ignoring Silent treatment Shunning

Discuss Opposites attract. Are we not also attracted to people who are in some ways different from ourselves, in ways that complement our own characteristics? Researchers have explored this question by comparing not only friends and spouses attitudes and beliefs but also their ages, religions, races, smoking behaviours, economic levels, educations, height, intelligence and appearance. In all theses ways and more, similarity still prevails.

Birds of a feather flock together. Discuss and defend your position with evidence. Friends, engaged couples and spouses are far more likely than randomly paired people to share common attitudes, beliefs and values. Furthermore, the greater the similarity between husband and wife, the happier they are and the less likely they are to divorce. Such correlational findings are intriguing. But cause and effect remain an enigma. Does similarity lead to liking? Or does liking lead to similarity? Dr. Morry has been interested in determining if similarity lets to attraction to if the opposite is true- that attraction leads to perceptions of similarity. I one study participants were asked to rate their own and their friends locus of control and friendship satisfaction. As Dr. Morry expected, participants perceived their friends to be similar to themselves, however these perceptions did not match the friends self-ratings. Instead participants perceptions reflected a belief in their friends

What role do the following factors play in attraction: o Mere exposure o Proximity o Physical attractiveness Mere Exposure: It turns out that we don't need to even interact with people to become attracted to them. All we need is mere exposure. Mere exposure can be defined as the tendency for novel stimuli to be liked more positively after the rater has been repeatedly exposed to them. Take a look at the picture below -- which one do you find more attractive? You probably find the one on the right more attractive, which is the one we more typically see. (Stephen Harper was previously the Canadian prime minister). Stephen Harper, on the other hand, probably prefers the picture on the left, which is the one he sees in the mirror every morning. This is one of the reasons why we tend not to like pictures of ourselves. First of all, the faces we see in the pictures are not as familiar to us as the ones we see in the mirror -- we like the one in the mirror more. Proximity: Think

Define interpersonal attraction. How does anticipation of interaction influence attraction? Interpersonal attraction is the attraction between people which leads to friendships and to platonic or romantic relationships. Interpersonal attraction, the process, is distinct from perceptions of physical attractiveness, which involves views of what is and is not considered beautiful or attractive. Mere anticipating interaction boosts liking. Similarly, expecting to date someone boosts liking. Anticipatory liking- expecting that someone will be pleasant and compatible- increases the chance of forming a rewarding relationship.

How do you make sure people help you if you are in need? What can you do when you need help? Know that the default might be for potential helpers to ignore the situation. Make eye-contact if you can, be explicit that you need help, get the attention of one individual person and grow the helping base from there. If you've taken a first aid course, you'll know that they teach the first responder to say "YOU! Call 9-1-1!" This helps to break people out of the bystander effect: it helps to get the event noticed, and interpreted as an emergency. With a clear directive on how to help, people are more likely to assume responsibility.

What is the bystander effect? Give an example. It is surprising to consider that the presence of numerous bystanders decreases helping. You would think that if there more people around your chances of getting help when you are in need should be good. Yet the opposite is true. Please watch this video to learn more about the Bystander Effect. It will talk about the Kitty Genovese case again, and show you footage from research experiments demonstrating the bystander effect. The key issue, as depicted in figure above, is how you will perceive the situation. The first step in helping is noticing that there's anything wrong in the first place. In a clever study done by Latane & Darley in 1968, they put participants in a room and started adding smoke leaking in under the door. They measured how long it took people to raise the alarm that there was smoke and potentially a fire. What they found, as depicted in Figure18-3, is that people were less likely to ask for help when the

What increases the chances of being helped? What decreases it? In addition, the odds of our helping someone increase when we: have just observed a helpful model we are not hurried the victim appears to need and deserve help the victim is similar to ourselves we are in a small town or rural area there are few other bystanders

How do people use social exchange theory, empathy, reciprocity norms, and social responsibility norms to explain helping? Why do we help other people? Some researchers say that we help others to help ourselves/ This is called social-exchange theory-- human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize one's rewards and minimize one's cost. Other researchers argue that we help others because of empathy -- the vicarious experience of another feelings; or putting oneself in another's shoes. If I can feel your pain, I will want to reduce it. There is also the reciprocity norm -- An expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them. And the social-responsibility norm -- An expectation that people will help those dependent upon them.

Define altruism. Give an example. What is altruism? An altruistic person is concerned and helpful even when no benefits are offered or expected in return Penelope was driving to a friend's wedding in a beautiful gown with impeccable makeup and hair. She noticed a car jet off the road and flip upside down into a deep canal. Without a thought, she immediately stopped her car, kicked off her heels, and ran towards the accident. Knowing the driver was still in the car, she single-mindedly jumped into the deep canal and swam towards the bottom to attempt to rescue the driver. Penelope was not a great swimmer, and she was having difficulty breathing in such deep water, but her heart told her that she needed to save the driver. One could say that Penelope is exhibiting altruistic behavior in this example. Altruism is the belief that the well-being of others is equally, if not more, important than the well-being or survival of the self. Further, altruism involves selfless acts or

You have two good friends who are siblings and who are fighting over who gets to use the family car. Describe how you would help resolve the issue. I would use the four c's of conflict resolution in order to solve the issue: Contact Cooperation Communication Conciliation

How do the following play a role in dispute resolution: o Contact o Communication o Cooperation o Conciliation 1)Contact: Contact means getting the two groups together. But you might imagine a situation where putting two groups together that are in conflict could just make things worse. Let's ask this question: historically in the US, Blacks and Whites were not allowed to go to school together. But in the 1960s schools were desegregated. Does desegregation improve racial attitudes? As it turns out, yes. Attitudes towards Blacks and other minorities are far less prejudiced now though they were 50 years ago. Although prejudice has not gone away, it is definitely improved. An important element is that there must be equal-status contact. Blacks and Whites in South Africa were always in contact, but the contact was with unequal status. It was not until Black and White status was equalized in South Africa that things began to change. 2) Cooperation: Cooperation between groups

What are the "4 C's" of conflict resolution? Contact Cooperation Communication Conciliation 1)Contact: Contact means getting the two groups together. But you might imagine a situation where putting two groups together that are in conflict could just make things worse. Let's ask this question: historically in the US, Blacks and Whites were not allowed to go to school together. But in the 1960s schools were desegregated. Does desegregation improve racial attitudes? As it turns out, yes. Attitudes towards Blacks and other minorities are far less prejudiced now though they were 50 years ago. Although prejudice has not gone away, it is definitely improved. An important element is that there must be equal-status contact. Blacks and Whites in South Africa were always in contact, but the contact was with unequal status. It was not until Black and White status was equalized in South Africa that things began to change. 2) Cooperation: Cooperation between grou

What are mirror image perceptions? It's worth noting that conflict frequently leads to what is called mirror image thinking. Mirror-Image perceptions are reciprocal views of one another often held by parties in conflict. Each may view itself as moral and peace loving and the other as evil and aggressive. A good example of the is the way people talk about terrorists, and the way people in the Middle East sometimes talk about the West. I am good and faithful, and I support virtue and light. You are evil and crazy and wicked. There is nothing good about you at all. Do you see how easy it is to demonize the opposition? Politicians do this too -- the government is corrupt, the bureaucrats are incompetent, until of course my party is in power.

Write out the formula for perceived injustice. What are the two types of problems (injustice) that occur? "That's unfair!" If I contribute more than you, but benefit less than you, I'm not going to be very happy. This is considered injustice. Indeed, I'm likely to be very sensitive to this outcome that I see as very unfair. Definition: Injustice: when the distribution of rewards in proportion to individual contributions is unequal. How am I likely to respond to this perceived injustice? According to Elaine Hatfield and colleagues, there are 3 likely outcomes: I might accept and justify my inferior position I might demand compensation I might retaliate One injustice that is now receiving a great deal of attention is the pay gap between men and women. See below for data from the Canadian Human Rights Commission (2004) that shows the average salaries of women working full time as a percentage of average salaries of men working full time.

How do you resolve social dilemma? A number of strategies have been suggested and investigated over the years in order to solve social dilemmas. The first is regulation -- this means enacting new taxes, laws, etc. to control people's behaviour. We have also learned that small really is beautiful -- small groups make people feel more responsible -- with more responsibility comes more protection of the resources we have. Communication is also important because it enables groups to cooperate. Once the groups are willing to cooperate we have to change the payoffs. In other words we have to make cooperation more rewarding. For example if we want to encourage carpooling, creating designated freeway lanes for carpoolers would help. We can also simply appeal to altruistic norms -- highlight need for personal sacrifices for the good of the group. Some people do this, but this will eventually end if no one else follows suit.

Compare and contrast the prisoner's dilemma and the tragedy of the commons. How are they similar or different? Prisoner's dilemma: In social dilemmas, choices that are individually rewarding can become collectively punishing. For example, some people might believe that littering is fairly trivial as far as crimes go, but litter can be a big problem. Have you ever noticed the side of a busy street filled with trash from littering? A classic approach to creating social dilemmas in the lab is through using what's called the prisoner's dilemma. Imagine you and a friend have been arrested for a crime that you did indeed commit. The two of you are separated at the police station and interrogated. If you confess, you will be granted immunity, and your friend will get a harsh sentence (let's say, 10 years). If you don't confess, but your friend tells the cops that you did it, you get a harsh sentence (you go away for 10 years). If you both confess, you get a mo

What is the outgroup homogeneity effect? How does distinctiveness play into this effect? As we talked about, we have a natural tendency to categorize people when we encounter them. When this is combined with a tendency to prefer the ingroups over outgroups, we get what is called the outgroup homogeneity effect. This is the perception that our own group members are more distinct from one another than members of other groups. This may be best illustrated in a statement "they all look alike". In fact one of the areas of research that I used to work on is on cross-race eyewitness identification. Essentially, because we perceive members of outgroups to be more similar, we are less able to identify those differences when we do encounter them. Thus, to us it may seem true, they all might appear to look alike. Understanding of this effect is starting to make its way into mainstream pop culture. Check out this clip from The Good Wife. On the other hand, we do see diversity wi

What is realistic conflict theory? Discuss how Sherif's Robber's Cave experiment is a good or poor example of this theory. Recall from Module 14 when we discussed the role of frustration in aggression. Frustration and aggression can play an important part in prejudice as well. Here are two ways that this can happen: the first is that when we are frustrated we look for someone to blame for our frustration. For example, if someone is low resourced (low socioeconomic status), they may be experiencing significant frustration in their own lives, and therefore look for someone to blame. The second way frustration can lead to prejudice and aggression is through a much closer link. Some researchers have explored what is called Realistic Group Conflict Theory: the idea that prejudice arises from competition among groups for scarce resources. We know that when unemployment is high, attitudes towards immigration become more negative. For example, if we are losing our jobs, we don

How do the following influence prejudice: o Need for status o Negative emotions o The authoritarian personality Some of the earliest research on determinants of prejudice looked at people's personalities. Need for status, self-regard, and need to belong have all been found to be related to level of prejudice. People who are high in need for status (i.e. want to highlight the unequal nature of status between groups) tend to be more prejudiced. There is clearly a role for negative emotions (e.g., humiliation, thoughts of dying) in eliciting prejudice against other groups. People who are humiliated or somehow insulted will aggress against minority groups when they are given the opportunity. Again, this is a good example of displacement of aggression. The Authoritarian Personality Perhaps the most studied personality characteristic as it relates to prejudice is authoritarianism. Research on authoritarianism has its roots in the 1940s -- researchers who were looking at the ro

How does social identity play a role in prejudice and discrimination? There's been substantial research that has explored how our own personal identity influences how prejudiced we become. As you will recall from Module 3, we have a well-established self-concept. Part of that self-concept comes from the group we belong to. This is what we called our social identity. According to Social Identity Theory the group we associate ourselves with will have an influence on how we think about the people we meet. Fundamentally, as we noted in our module on attitude, we evaluate the things we encounter in our lives. Importantly, when it comes to people, we categorize them: male, female, Black, White, Asian, Indian, old, young, etc. We identify with our ingroup -- those people with whom we share a sense of belonging and a feeling of common identity. We also distinguish ourselves from outgroups -- those people that we perceive as distinctly different from or apart from our ingroup.

What is stereotype threat and why does it happen? The idea that stereotypes lead to self-fulfilling prophecies is the basis for research that has explored what is called stereotype threat. Stereotype threat is essentially the fear that one will be evaluated based on negative stereotypes. Interestingly there is quite a bit of research that suggests that when facing a negative stereotype this will actually change your behaviour. Definition: Stereotype threat: a disruptive concern, when facing a negative stereotype, that one will be evaluated based on that stereotype. Unlike self-fulfilling prophecies that hammer one's reputation into one self-concept, stereotype threat situations have immediate effects. In the figure below you can see the results of a classic study of stereotype threat. Stephen Spencer, Claude Steele, and Diane Quinn conducted a study (published in 1999) where they gave very difficult math questions to men and women students with similar math skills. Some

Describe and discuss two social sources of prejudice. In this module I want to talk about the different sources or underlying causes of prejudice. One of the most important social sources of prejudice is unequal status between groups. When two groups are of unequal status it is easy for a higher status group to think of the lower status group as being undeserving of consideration. This can lead to stereotyping the lower status group, and these stereotypes help rationalize unequal status. Interestingly, the stereotypes resulting from the unequal status can also lead to self-fulfilling prophecies that reinforce these beliefs. For example, as a teacher, if I believe that one ethnic group is more intelligent than others, I may treat them better in the classroom -- this may result in higher performance. I therefore fulfill the stereotype. Similarly if I believe a particular group is less intelligent, I may take away opportunities for them to be educated and thus prove that stereo

How pervasive is prejudice in North American Society - discuss the empirical evidence that supports your position. As I mentioned earlier, overt instances of prejudice are relatively rare in our society. When they happen, they make news. This is important: because overt prejudice is relatively rare does not mean that prejudice is gone altogether. Subtle forms of prejudice exist, and they have significant negative consequences. In 2005, five million Canadians reported being the victim of racism. More than half of Canadians were aware of someone who had been discriminated against. Study example: What about other forms of prejudicial behaviour? In a fascinating study, Josh Correll and his colleagues showed participants pictures of people either holding a gun or holding some harmless object like a cell phone. Participants had to take the position of a police officer -- do you shoot or don't you? What the researchers found is that people were much more likely to shoot a Black

Define the following terms: Prejudice, Stereotype, Discrimination, Racism, Sexism. Prejudice:A negative attitude toward a group; typically considered the affective component of outgroup bias Stereotype: A belief about the personal attributes of a group of people; cognitive component of outgroup bias Discrimination: Unjustifiable negative behaviour toward a group or its members; behavioural component of outgroup bias Racism: Prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behaviour toward people of a given race Sexism: Prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behaviour toward people of a given gender

Assume your child is behaving aggressively. What would you do to change that behaviour. Bobo Doll Experiment: Bandura showed children movies of adults interacting with an inflatable Bobo doll. In some videos the adults were not aggressive, playing nicely with the doll. In others they were aggressive, hitting a punching the doll and using aggressive language. What Bandura found (and we will discuss this research more in a later module) is that children learn to be aggressive, but children were also aggressive in novel ways -- they were inventive in how they aggressed against the doll. Environmental Influences: The environment can also make us aggressive. Painful incidents, heat, being attacked, crowding, and other kinds of arousal can all make a more aggressive. This is why we often hit back if we have been hurt, why of violent crimes are more common in hotter cities/in the summer, and that crowds can often become spectacularly violent (remember the riots from a previous module

Explain Frustration-aggression theory. Draw a picture if you wish. A well-known theory of aggression is frustration-aggression theory. The basic idea behind frustration-aggression theory is that when our goal-directed behaviour is blocked, we become frustrated and want to aggress against what is blocking our goal. However this is not always possible, and sometimes we get what is called displacement. Displacement is simply the redirection of aggression to a target other than the source of the frustration. Importantly the new target is usually a safer or more socially acceptable target. For example, if your boss at work yelled at you, you may come home and yell at your partner. You cannot yell at your boss, or you will lose your job, but yelling at your partner is safer. As you can see in the figure above, there are many steps in the frustration aggression process. This is a fascinating theory, but it does have some limitations. Frustration does not always lead to aggression. Th

Define aggression. For the purposes of this class, aggression is any physical or verbal behaviour intended to hurt someone. This excludes auto accidents, dental treatments, and sidewalk collisions, but includes slaps, direct insults, and gossip. Two Types of Aggression 1.Instrumental Aggression: aggression that provide a means to an end. 2.Hostile Aggression: aggression with the aid of injuring someone driven by anger.

What is the difference between task leadership and social leadership? Task Leadership Goal oriented leadership that sets standards, organizes work, and focuses attention on goals. Being a Task Leader A task leader focuses on accomplishments. This leader assesses the team's accomplishments and judges the success of a project based on how close they are to reaching the specified goal. A task leader tends to be influential, mature, well-educated, good at problem solving, and communicating Behaviors of a Task Leader A task leader is someone that tells you exactly how something needs to be done. The leader makes all of the important decisions without explaining their reasoning for fear of wasting time that could be spent achieving goals. A task leader sets goals, plans, establishes standards, and creates a communication network. Social Leadership Social leadership is group-oriented leadership that builds teamwork, mediates conflict, and offers support. Being a Social

What makes a minority an effective minority in a group? How does one go from a minority that is ignored, to a minority that is listened to? Researchers who have looked into this have found that there are three elements that are important. Consistency-- a persistent minority is influential. The minority group member needs to have self-confidence, both in terms of their position and their ability to stand up to the group. Attitude can be more persuasive than fact. Finally, defections from the majority are important. The only way for a minority to become the majority is for people to defect from the existing majority. But this is a snowball effect: once one person has defected, more are likely to follow. One-time members of the majority group can be viewed as more persuasive when they become members of the minority.

How do you prevent groupthink from occurring? Survey a wide range of objectives to be reached, always taking into account the multiplicity of values involves. Consider a wide range of possible courses of action Intensively search for new information relevant to evaluating the alternatives Correctly consider and assimilate new information and expert judgments, even when they do not support the initially preferred course of action. Reconsider both the positive and negative consequences of alternatives originally regarded as unacceptable, before making a final decision. Carefully weigh the negative as well as the positive consequences that could result from the preferred alternative. Prepare detailed provisions for implementing and monitoring the chosen course of action, with particular attention to contingency plans that might be required if known risks were to materialize. Although group decisions may take longer when the steps described above are taken, they may prov

What is groupthink? Give some examples. When we have unchecked group polarization, we can end up with groupthink. Groupthink is the mode of thinking that people engage in when trying to reach agreement (particularly in a cohesive group). This way of thinking can become so dominant that it tends to override reason, and the consideration of reasonable alternative courses of action. Definition: Groupthink: the mode of thinking that persons engage in when concurrence seeking become so dominant in a cohesive group that tends to override realistic appraisal of alternate courses of action. As with group polarization, there are many examples of groupthink in our society. A good example is the US and British involvement in the Iraq war. In January of 2011 the British Parliament released a report based on a series of investigations into why the British became embroiled in the Iraq war. It became clear that the information they relied upon to get involved in the war (i.e. the presen

Define and distinguish between normative and informational conformity. Social influence occurs when our behaviour is influenced by the real, imagined or implied presence of others. Information social influence occurs when people conform to peer views in an attempt to reach the correct answer for themselves; it is the desire to be correct. This form of social influence is moderated by self-confidence and task difficulty. On the other hand, normative social influence occurs when people conform in order to be accepted and liked by the group; normative influence is moderated by group size, as well as social support.

Give some examples of group polarization in everyday life. make decisions in the appeals court over a number of years found an interesting effect. Republican appointed judges make more conservative decisions with other Republican appointees than with Democratic ones. In other words, when they are working with like-minded people they make more extreme judgments. We can also see group polarization in communities; gang delinquency, and "landslide" elections are all good examples. We also see group polarization on the internet. Do you belong to any virtual groups? In virtual communities, like-minded people tend to get together, and the people in these groups can feed off each other. Good examples of these kinds of groups are right or left wing political groups. If you look, you'll be able to find groups that call themselves "left wing" which have become far from what we would call mainstream. We can also see group polarization in terrorist groups. No one is

Define group polarization. What happens to attitudes in the process of polarization? Group produced enhancement of members' pre-existing tendencies; a strengthening of the members' average tendency, not a split within the group Group polarization is group-produced enhancement of members' preexisting tendencies. That is, if a group starts out as moderately positive toward some idea, it is likely to end up as more positive at the end of the discussion. It is important to note that this is not solely an effect on the group decision. It is actually a strengthening of the members' average tendency. The group members become more extreme in their attitudes. Also when we talk about polarization, you should be aware that it is not a split within the group, as some people think (that is, half of the group moving to one extreme, and the other half to the other). This polarization is often the result of discussion. If you look at the figure below, you will see that regardl

What factors elicit deindividuation? Two factors that elicit deindividuation are Physical anonymity & Diminished Self-Awareness 1. Physical anonymity also plays a role. Uniforms are often used in teams or work settings to depersonalize individuals. This is why Ku Klux Klan members wear hoods. They do this to protect their otherwise normal reputation while they're engaging in aberrant and racist behaviours (see module 15). It is important to note that often seemingly minor actions usually precede aggressive and violent outbursts. There is self-reinforcing pleasure in acting impulsively when observing others doing likewise. For example what might start as simply one parent yelling at a hockey official, can lead to threats of assault after the game (see Referees fear abuse from parents for an example). These types of events have resulted in new rules about how parents can behave at Junior hockey games. 2. Diminished self-awareness It is important to understand that on

Define deindividuation. Loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension; occurs in group situations that foster responsiveness to group norms, good or bad. A classic example of this is rioting after sports events. They are supposed to be celebrating a happy moment yet the crowd turns to mass destruction and sometimes violence.

What is social loafing? How does it happen and how can we counter its effects? Social Loafing is the tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool their efforts toward a common goal than when they are individually accountable. Social loafing is ubiquitous -- we see it on all kinds of teams, in organizations, at school, and in government. Anywhere where there are groups of people working on communal tasks there will be social loafing. Individuals in collectivist cultures tend to exhibit less social loafing than individuals from individualistic cultures, but they still exhibit it. All that being said, clearly working on a team can be beneficial. How do we create a situation where people will put their best effort in on the team? How do we decrease social loafing? To motivate group members, one strategy is to make individual performance identifiable (e.g., viewing football film to evaluate individual players is one strategy that has been adopted to maximize individual

How does social arousal influence performance? Use a picture, if you wish, to help you explain. These co-actors in a situation with us can serve as a source of social arousal. For some people, this arousal is positive (such as fans at a home football game), and for some it can be negative (such as the home team's fans at an away game!). The effect of social arousal is to strengthen whatever our dominant response is. This social arousal can have at least two effects. As you can see in the figure below if the dominant response is an easy behaviour, such as riding a bicycle, then performance can be enhanced. If the behaviour is a difficult one, such as tennis or a figure skating performance, the performance can actually be interrupted by the social arousal. This process is called social facilitation. Social facilitation is a boost in performance on easy tasks and reduction in performance on difficult tasks. More recently, this effect has been discussed as the strengthening

Describe how researchers have used resistance tactics to reduce smoking rates in children. How do we protect our attitudes? One strategy has been to use what is called attitude inoculation. This is based on a theory similar to how we inoculate ourselves against diseases. We expose ourselves to a weak form of the disease, which in turn allows our bodies to build defenses. Similarly, in terms of attitude, we can expose ourselves to weak attacks on our attitude, which allows us to strengthen our defenses against stronger attacks that may come later. How well does this work? Well, there has been significant research looking at how we can inoculate children against peer pressure to smoke. In carefully conducted research that was done schools in the US, researchers were interested in how exposing people to weak forms of tobacco advertising could actually result in students being less likely to smoke. As you can see from the figure below, attitude-inoculated children are half as like

How might we resist cult indoctrination? Give specific examples. Indoctrination: A process to teach members a partisan and uncritical acceptance of the group's perspective on issues. (the process of teaching a person or group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically.) How we resist: Attitude Strength: You probably know whether you prefer chocolate or vanilla ice cream. It is unlikely that I'm going to be able to argue with you to change your attitude about which you'd like more. Information Processing Biases: When our attitudes are strong, we also tend to have certain biases in the way we process incoming information, such as advertising.

Describe how cults use persuasion tactics to convert followers. Cult: A group typically characterized by 1) distinctive rituals and beliefs related to its devotion to a God or a person; 2) isolation from the surrounding "evil" culture; 3) a charismatic leader (a sect, by contrast, is a spinoff from a major religion.) Groups like cults are excellent at using the tactics we've been discussing over the last few modules to gain converts. For example they may use the foot-in-the-door technique very effectively. This is why you never see cults with advertising placards that say "come join our cult." They start with disaffected people and slowly draw them into a group that not only understands them, is willing to listen, but is also willing to offer a better way of life, salvation. The only thing you need to do is to follow the group. Once followers buy into the group in a small way they commit to learn more. Your book gives a good example of this on page 149

Design an effective anti-smoking ad. Messages can also be effective by evoking negative emotions. When trying to convince people to cut down on smoking, a fear arousing message can be potent. To have one's fear aroused is to become more intensely interested in information about a disease and in ways to prevent it. Fear arrousing communications also increase people's detection behaviour.

How does the audience influence persuasion? Who is receiving the message is also important. How old are they? Differences in social and political attitudes depend on age. People who are older tend to be more conservative. Why is this? One theory suggests a "Life-cycle" explanation -- as people get older they tend to become more conservative. The second explanation is called the "Generational" theory -- older people are more conservative because they come from a different time. Interestingly, the baby boomers who are nearing retirement age, come from one of the most liberal times: the 1960s, but statistically they are now the most conservative. Thus it is not clear which of these explanations is best, but there is some suggestion that both have some merit. Another question we have to ask is what is the audience thinking? We know that "forewarned is forearmed." If we go into a situation knowing the speaker is going to try to persuade us, we can have

How does the message content influence persuasion? The content of the message is (obviously!) very important. What do you think works better: reason or emotion? Does the logic of the argument work better or is it better to touch on people's emotions? The answer of course, like every good social psychological question, is "it depends". People are often swayed by emotional arguments when there is little cost to them. For example, advertisements that focus on emotion are good for low-cost consumer products such as soft drinks and other consumables. However when we are dealing with high-cost items such as cars or computers, more cognitive or reason based advertising often works better. If you look at the Super Bowl advertisements linked below, you'll notice that many of them try to make you laugh. Indeed, many made me laugh (my favorite was the Dodge Charger commercial).

List and describe how two factors concerning the communicator of the message that can influence persuasion. Attractiveness & Credibility ho is giving the message is crucial. One of the first issues we consider is the credibility of the source. Expert and trustworthy communicators appear to be more believable. We believe LeBron James when he says that his Nike basketball shoes made him a better player. We believe dentists who tell us we should chew sugar-free gum. Of course there is always the element that these people are being paid by a company, so the source has to overcome this potential biasing factor. The attractiveness of the source is also important. It is not surprising that the most successful politicians also tend to be relatively attractive. Arguments are often more influential when they come from beautiful people. Similarity is also very important: We respond better to a message from people in our own group. You may notice this when you suddenly discover some c

The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion proposes two routes to persuasion. Name them, define them and describe how they are different. Central route to persuasion: persuasion that occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts Peripheral Route Persuasion: persuasion that occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as the speaker's attractiveness. As we can see from the figure above, when we are listening to a particular message, such as the one made by this political candidate, there are two ways in which we can be persuaded. If we take a central route, which is most likely if we are involved in the topic or we find it somehow interesting, we will focus on the arguments being presented. If the arguments are strong, then we will be convinced and be more likely to vote for this candidate. If the arguments are weak, we will be less convinced and less likely to vote for them. This is important: to take the centr

What do the Asch and Milgram experiments tell us about the fundamental attribution error? What is important about the Asch and Milgram experiments is that they show how obedience can take precedence over moral sense. Essentially situations can persuade people to go against their own consciences. It is important to note that level of personal responsibility is a factor in the obedience studies. Psychological states shifted during the various phases of the obedience studies. There was often a reluctance to comply (at the beginning of study) that later led to a justification of cruel acts (nearing the end of study). As we have learned in previous modules, culture is a powerful shaper of lives. However the immediate situational forces are just as powerful. Situations can induce ordinary people to agree to falsehoods or to capitulate to cruelty. Perhaps the most important lesson from this module is that the situation matters. FAE: The fundamental attribution error is our tenden

What are the four factors that influence obedience to an authority figure? 1. Emotional distance of the victim: the further the victim was removed from the site of the teacher, the more shocks were administered. Indeed, in Milgram's pilot study the learner did not scream out in pain. In this version of the study everybody went to 450V. In one version of the study Milgram actually created the situation where the teacher had to take the learner's hand and place it on a shock plate for the learner to actually get a shock. In this case, where the violence and pain was so close, only 35% of participants went to 450V. 2. Closeness and legitimacy of the authority: the closeness of the authority figure was very important. When the authority figure was another participant, they were obeyed much less. In addition when the authority figure gave their instructions by phone or via a tape recorder, obedience was substantially reduced. 3. Institutional authority: Milgram tried variou

Describe the Milgram study. When was obedience highest? When was it lowest? What does this tell us about group influences on obedience? The Milgram experiment was very involved. It had to be in order to create the experimental realism necessary for the study to work. Participants were told that the study was designed to examine the effects of punishment on learning. A "learner" had to learn a list of word associations (such as blue -- boy). The experimenter told a person assigned to be the "teacher" that the "learner" was being shocked for incorrect responses, and theory suggested this would increase learning. Therefore in this study all incorrect responses were to be punished with a shock. The more errors the learner made, the worse the shock. The participants were randomly assigned to be either the "teacher" or "learner". Importantly, the participants were always "randomly assigned" to be the teacher, and the learner